Folklore: Do counties matter?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: OtherDave
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 12:23 PM

Most languages (well European anyway) generally use the definite artical before the noun

Getting further off-topic, that'd be those languages that use articles (definite or indefinite). It's curious that the Romance languages use them when Latin did not.

Recall when English speakers used to refer to a certain East European location as "the Ukraine." This form was not possible to express in Ukranian, since that language doesn't use articles.

You have to watch what you're saying about language. Geoffrey Pullum, a British linguist, told a lecture group at the U. of London that that many languages have SVO (subject-verb-object) order as their standard mode (e.g., English, "you read a book"), and many VSO ("read you a book"). Others have SOV, and a very few have VOS. "The other two logically possible orders, OSV ['a book you read'] and OVS ['a book read you'] do not occur at all."

Student Des Derbyshire raised his hand and said, "Excuse me, sir, but I speak an object-initial language." (Hixkarynana, a Carib language in northern Brazil.)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: GUEST,DannyC
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 02:23 PM

In Kentucky (USA) (where I live) folk generally state their county of origin very early in the "hello, nice to meet ya" ritual (aka the "howdie").   County is important here...

In Philadelphia, PA (where I am from), my caste of people would want to know what parish you were from - St. Dominic Savio? St. Martin of Tours? St. Stanislaus?   Once you'd get that established, you could start with the "Do you know ... the O'Donnells? ... The Kowalskis? ... The Venutis?" It's probably changed a bunch in Philly.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 02:31 PM

Leadfingers

As someone who's Middlesex born and bred, I'd just like to remind you of the toast:

Here's to the fair sex of Middlesex
And here's to Middlesex the fair
And here's to the middle of the fair sex
And by xxxx I wish I was there.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: GUEST,*Laura*
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 02:34 PM

I like living in my county - all my friends think that's strange 'cos they'd rather live anywhere but Somerset (aka farmer-land).
I think it must have something to do with coming from a folkie family that I don't mind it. :0)

xLx

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: Franz S.
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 07:04 PM

In the western US counties are most important to real estate agents and lawyers. Real estate tends to be ranked by county (Marin is high status, Kern is low status in California). Lawyers care because each county has a county seat where the courthouse, sheriff, and most other county offices are located. There always seems to be tension between big and little. People from Eastern Washington or Oregon are supposed to dislike and mistrust people from west of the mountains, and within a county the rural areas and urban areas tend to band together against each other.   It is also traditional for country folk to abhor the county seat, especially if it is also the largest town. But counties are administrative entities created by the state goverments, and they don't carry anything remotely like the historical weight that they do in those islands over there (whatever they may be called).

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: Burke
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 07:30 PM

A lot of Social Service agencies are organized on a county level as well. For years I worked for Hennepin County, Minnesota Dept. of Financial Assistance. We administered AFDC & General Welfare payments as well as Medicaid enrollment. I'm not sure of the source of the funds, except that refugee aid was all Federal. The Feds handled SSI & Medicare. Hennepin Co. includes Minneapolis & areas north, south & west. St. Paul is in Ramsey County.

I now live in New York. In Oneida County we are now very well aware that lots of Medicaid funds come from county coffers. We just had a big sales tax increase that no one else in the state has. Here we were thinking it was all Federal or State funds.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do counties matter?
From: mandoleer
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 07:34 PM

Here in the UK we refer to county if needed to establish which town is being referred to, i.e. Newport on the Severn estuary is Newport, Monmouthshire even though it is a unitary authority now (that is, it is a county and town at the same time). Not many places that are duplicated as names are important enough for people to be aware of the others. There are many Prestons, but only one is big enough to be known nationally. The three main Newcastles all have extensions (-upon-Tyne, -under-Lyme, Emlyn) to make it clear which is referered to.
Many people still stick to the 'old' counties. I use Merseyside for my address, but a lot here use Lancashire. The Wirral fought hard to lose the L (Liverpool) post code, and now they have CH (Chester - their old county town when they were in Cheshire).
And apart from Cornwall there are some areas that regard themselves as other. The Forest of Dean doesn't seem to think it is in England or in Wales (a couple of elections ago there were 3 candidates standing for Independence for the Forest). On hearing that my father was born in Longney (on the other bank of the Severn), an old freeminer commented, 'Aye, over in England'. Then he made a remark about 'them in Wales'...